New “Safe Passage” Routes Designated on Chicago’s West Side

Deborah Bayliss | As of Wednesday, August 21, 2013

1. The Chicago Citizen Newspaper last week reported this vacant lot located on a Chicago Public Schools Safe Passage route along the 2900 block of west Fulton Street in the East Garfield Park neighborhood last week by calling the 311 number. The lot had overgrown weeds, broken glass and liter strewn about. A missing board from the back of the vacant building to the left was also reported. 2. Pictured is the lot as of Aug. 15. The weeds have been cut and the lawn mowed. Photo by Deborah Bayliss
1. The Chicago Citizen Newspaper last week reported this vacant lot located on a Chicago Public Schools Safe Passage route along the 2900 block of west Fulton Street in the East Garfield Park neighborhood last week by calling the 311 number. The lot had overgrown weeds, broken glass and liter strewn about. A missing board from the back of the vacant building to the left was also reported. 2. Pictured is the lot as of Aug. 15. The weeds have been cut and the lawn mowed. Photo by Deborah Bayliss

Safe Passage signs are popping up on Chicago’s Westside. So far, signs in have been spotted in the East Garfield and Humboldt Park neighborhoods. With the placement of the new signs comes an announcement from Chicago Public Schools (CPS) that CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett is recommending to the Board of Education the expansion of its Safe Passage program to include 19 new community-based vendors.

The new community-based Safe Passage vendors are being recommended to the Board by CEO Byrd-Bennett after an extensive and competitive request for proposals (RFP) process. If the Board approves the new vendors, they will begin hiring 600 workers to staff the new routes, which are currently being developed and will be finalized before school starts in August.

The vendors are expected to provide a smooth and safe transition for the 30,000 students at all 51 Sending and Welcoming schools this fall.

City departments and sister agencies including the Public Building Commission (PBC), Department of Buildings (DOB), Department of Streets and Sanitation (DSS), Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS) and the Department of Transportation (CDOT) are working with CPS to support communities to aid students’ transition.

“Student safety is among our top priorities,” said CPS CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett. “Expanding the successful Safe Passage program to include next year’s welcoming schools is one of several steps we’re taking to create safe environments in and around our schools. Safe Passage workers are the eyes and ears of their communities and will be our partners in providing safe routes to and from school every day for students.”

Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said, “While police citywide have been focused on building a stronger partnership with the communities we serve, those efforts are even stronger along the new Safe Passage routes – because we all have a role to play in public safety, said Chicago Police Department Superintendent McCarthy, via released statement. “Our CAPS officers have gone door-to-door on more than 500 blocks near Safe Passage routes to engage residents in the program, and already more than 1,800 residents are working with us to ensure there is a positive adult presence near the routes, not just on the routes.”‖

CPS will also mail a copy of each school-specific Safe Passage route to corresponding Welcoming School families, as a part of a comprehensive back-to-school packet.

CPS launched the Safe Passage Program in 2009 to help improve safety for students traveling to and from school. The program engages community organizations as vendors that hire community-based watchers who provide an adult presence along pre-defined safe routes. These organizations have demonstrated that they have a strong working knowledge of the communities they serve.

For the upcoming school transitions, CPS and fellow City sister agencies have enhanced the Safe Passage program even further by launching a working group that will oversee improvements along Safe Passage routes. The group, which meets regularly to review the required work orders and ensure they are being properly executed, will address existing issues such as troubled hotspots, abandoned buildings, vacant lots and traffic concerns.

In addition, CPS and the Chicago Police Department have already held and say they will continue to hold safety planning meetings for the parents of students, who attend both Sending and Welcoming schools as a way to gain feedback from parents on the safety plans.

The new routes some children will travel are the result of 47 schools closures this year and two more scheduled to close prior to the 2014-15 school year.

“Safe Passage workers are the eyes and ears of their communities and will be our partners in providing safe routes to and from school every day for students,” Byrd-Bennett said.

Workers will be positioned along routes starting Monday, Aug. 26.

The yellow and black, Safe Passage signs have gone up on the 2900 block of Fulton Street in East Garfield Park, one sign near a vacant lot that had tall weeds and garbage strewn about.

The Chicago Citizen Newspaper reported the lot last week by calling the 311 number that CPS provided to report issues such as this on a Safe Passage route. The weeds were cut down the following week.

Since May 1, DOB has investigated 1,162 complaints from 311 of vacant buildings in the Safe Passage zones and is currently researching 58 new complaints received since July 30.

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